Everybody Party Like It's 1984

This weekend has a vintage feel to it. Water cooler talk around the nation is likely centering on "The Karate Kid", "The A-Team", and the Lakers vs. the Celtics. But instead of names like Macchio, Mr. T., and Magic & Bird, this time around it’s Jaden Smith, Rampage, and Kobe & KG.

In 1984 "The A-Team" was a hit TV series, the original "Karate Kid" was new to theaters, and Boston and L.A. battled it out over seven games for the NBA title. Today, the latest incarnations of "The A-Team" and "The Karate Kid" hit movie theaters; and (unfortunately) the NBA Finals are currently deadlocked between the Lakers (yay) and the Celtics (nay) at two games apiece.

I would imagine there will be quite a few parents taking their kids to see the new Jaden Smith/Jackie Chan “Karate Kid” who will reminisce on their own parents taking them to see Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita’s classic 26 years ago. Or leaving the kids with a babysitter to reminisce while watching Rampage Jackson and Liam Neeson flip jeeps in "The A-Team".

Hopefully, though, Kobe and the rest of the Lake Show will win the next two to prevent things from getting a little too much like 1984.


[What’s that, Mr. I’m-too-highbrow-for-sports-and-Hollywood-tomfoolery? The only water cooler talk—or, in your case, Starbucks talk—you’ll be doing will be about the BP oil spill? Ironically, your 1984 counterpart also had an oil spill off the coast of Louisiana to talk about: a British tanker spilled 2.8 million gallons of Venezuelan crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Granted, that’s relatively minor in comparison to the current day spill, which is currently estimated to be between 42 and 100 million gallons.]